Equestria Girls: Behind The Mask
by Sacredheart99
Summary: When Twilight and the girls meet six new male students at Canterlot high, and one by one fall in love with them, what will happen? Will Spike and Comet be able to save their friends? Or will this day be just perfect for the boys? Requested by retro mania. Feat my OCs!
1. Honesty In Your Lies

Chapter One: Honesty in your Lies

"Alright then, my turn. If each of you could have the perfect boyfriend, what would he be like?" Twilight asked, taking a bite of her apple.

"He'd be tall, rich and stylish. He'd have soft and very clean blonde hair nice and groomed, and beautiful amethyst eyes, that'd be my dream man" Rarity sighed dreamily, twirling a lock of her hair with her fingers.

"He'd be super-fast and totally cool, and he could play soccer like a champ! I mean, he'd have to have an epic hairdo like blue but one side's shaved, and he'd definitely have to have eyes like mine" Rainbow said.

"Mah dream man ain't have to be real fancy, just honest with me, but if y'all are fantasisin' bout yer dream boy… mine would have tah have dark hair, long dark hair and beautiful blue eyes like the summer sky" Applejack said, resting her chin on her hands.

"Ooh! Ooh! My dream boyfriend" Pinkie giggled "would have to have crazy hair and pretty aqua eyes! And he'd have to be able to bake a good cake!"

"Umm… my… my boyfriend, if I ever get one, that is… um… he'd have to have, I'm not insisting he should be the way I want him to… but if I had to pick, not to be rude… he would have nice hazelnut brown hair and green eyes like soft new grass," Fluttershy squeaked, feeling her cheeks colour.

Twilight laughed "They all sound very interesting, but I'm not one to judge a book by its cover" she joked, nobody on the table getting it, not even Pinkie. The nerdy girl perked up upon hearing somebody laugh directly behind her, and turned to see a young man smiling "Hey, great joke. You're a bookworm, right? I mean, I get picked on a lot for it but I love a good book or two!"

She laughed "I know how you feel. Oh, what's your favourite book?" she asked, swivelling around to face the young man. He thought "I'd have to say…"

" _Equestrian Studies by Marethur Colt_ " they said together, jinxing, then laughing it off.

She smiled and he did too "Oh by the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

"Crafty Blue, it's nice to meet you Twi, if you don't mind me calling you that" he said.

"Oh no it's ok, my friends call me that all the time" she said, gesturing to the five other girls seated at the table, who waved back. He nodded, adjusting his fuchsia beanie and neckerchief "Cool, nice to meet you girls. Hey Twi, would you be willing to hang out later with me?"

Twilight looked to her friends and back to Crafty "Sure, when abouts?"

"After school, if that's ok," he said, brushing a lock of his blonde hair from his face. She nodded but quickly remembered something important "Uh sorry Crafty, but I promised the girls we'd hang out after school" Twilight added in, shrugging apologetically. He seemed upset "Oh… ok then…" and turned back around.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's ok," he said, taking a bite out of his sandwich and chewing slowly. She felt rude for declining such a nice young man's request, but she had promised her friends and friends came first to her. She finished her food and as the bell went, they all went to their classes.

All but one student, who sat and finished his sandwich, singing quietly to himself.

" _This day is going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small…_ "

Grabbing her books from her locker, the blonde apple farmer stuffed them into her bag and began her walk to the door, when she bumped into someone. "Aw gosh ah'm so sorry ma'am! I wasn't looking where ah was going. Are you alright?" the person asked.

She opened her eyes and nearly passed out. There stood a young man, tanned skin and dark hair in a loose ponytail, wearing a dusty red flannelette and jeans that obviously had been worn during tough labour. His most breathtaking feature was his eyes bluer than Applejack had ever seen.

"Ah'm ok… it was mah fault, I wasn't looking where I was goin'. It ain't yer fault hon," she said, her cheeks warming at a surprising rate. He smiled and she felt a fluttery feeling in her gut, as he helped her to her feet and picked up her books. "Sure? Alright then, but be careful ya hear?"

She smiled at him and he smiled back "So um… what's yer name?"

"A-Applejack, and yers?" she said.

"Golden Cider, I'm new here. It's real nice to meet ya AJ, maybe ah could buy ya a drink later to say sorry properly, like my mama taught me" he said with a smile. "Really? Well I'd be flattered but…"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, as the flood of students rushed out the doors at the bell. She found herself wrapped in his arms protectively, and her cheeks heated up like a wildfire, his too. He laughed awkwardly and let her go "Sorry, but ah had to. You alright?" he asked.

"Sure am," she said, gripping her upper arm shyly. She looked up into his blue eyes and felt all her worries melt away, all troubles and all fears wash into nothingness. From sky blue to shimmering green, but she didn't notice it at all. As she became dizzy and her green eyes pulsed with energy being stolen, Cider began to sing to himself.

" _But instead of staying fake, their love I shall take, the magic crown shall make me rule over all_ ".


	2. Loyalty Disguised As Deciet

Chapter Two: Loyalty disguised as Deceit

Zooming into position, Rainbow shot a goal and fist-pumped to celebrate. Practicing for the match next week, she had aced seventeen goals in a row, and knew she was going to get her team the win. Then she saw someone standing by the goals. After a moment or two, she went over to the figure, hands on hips.

"Hey, you ok buddy?"

The teen smirked "Yeah, fine. You mind if I play?"

"Play? Well it's not technically playing if I'm gonna beat you the second we step onto the field" Rainbow scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Put ya money where your mouth is girlie," he said tauntingly. Rainbow scowled "Oh it is on".

Stepping into full view she saw his pale green skin and blue hair shaved on one side, magenta eyes shimmering with eagerness to win. She felt butterflies in her stomach, and almost decided to go easy on him. Almost.

"You get first shot newbie," she said kicking the ball to him, and he stopped it with his feet. He snickered and with a swift movement she couldn't move to stop, scored a clean goal. She was dazed. Nobody had EVER scored a goal against her. Ever! She shook it off and prepared to defend the next shot, but missed and the ball hit the back of the net, rolling to a stop at her ankle.

"Ok you gotta be cheating somehow" she said.

He smirked "You're just saying that because you're losing".

She gritted her teeth "Just play ball". He kicked but this time, unbeknownst to her, purposefully missed and hit the side of the goal. He acted upset "Damn!" he shouted. It was her turn to grin "Aww yeah! Now it's getting interesting!"

" _Yes…_ " he whispered to himself as she gloated. He put on a brattish face "Well, lucky shot".

"No way Jose, your luck just ran out! Now Rainbow Dash is gonna smash… you!" she quickly added. He smirked "Yeah? Nobody wins against Rave, not even Rainbow Dash" he said proudly. All his acting classes had paid off. The prismatic haired girl huffed "Yeah slick, sure. How about you just shoot again and miss?"

He pretended to be offended, which to her, actually looked real "Just shut up,"

He kicked and it almost hit her, going in the net "Yes! Aww yeah! Now who's smashed?" he gloated, she shrugged, trying not to look arrogant "Y-yeah fine. You won, so what? Big deal," she said. He laughed it off "So then, how about I say sorry by buying you a drink? Hmm? I'm not a big bad meanie, I have a heart".

She opened an eye "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and you've kinda stolen it".

She felt her blue cheeks flush red "Uhh…"

"Is there something wrong?" he asked smiling. She looked to him and shook her head "N-no… it's just…"

He smiled and stepped up to her "Well, we could go out to the café later if you like, I'm buying" he said. She smiled "Yeah ok, so it's Rave right? Cool name," she said, mock punching his shoulder. He nodded and put his hands in his pockets "Thanks Dash,"

She smiled "Don't mention it,"

She looked up into his eyes and felt… dizzy, like she had been on a rollercoaster, and her knees felt wobbly and gave way. She was caught by Rave, and when she looked back up all her worries melted away, like going to the spa and getting the full package. "R-Rave… ugh… I don't feel so good…"

"Dash… you'll be just fine" he assured her "just relax".

She stood and Rave helped her stay up "Alright, but let's get back inside. I don't like the look of those rainclouds,"

The bluenette looked up and noticed the grey thundering clouds "Uh-huh."

Rave walked the prismatic haired girl to the door, and as they entered, snuck a look into her eyes. She couldn't help but stare into his strange, warping green eyes as they seemed to weaken her. The hallway was empty, or so they thought.

"I knew it. Spike was right, something is wrong. Very, very wrong" she whispered, making her way back down the hall as stealthily as she could, quietly singing when out of earshot " _This day has yet to be perfect, the kind of day there used to be when I was small, but instead of being bait I shall lay in wait, Crafty Blue shall not triumph at all!_ "


	3. Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Chapter Three: Laughter is the Best Medicine

Pinkie stood by her bench, apron on and ready to cook. All accept the fact that she hadn't been picked for a partner. She sighed and got her ingredients, ready to just cook the food and see her friends later, but perked up as she heard the cookery teacher send over somebody to work with her.

He seemed nervous "H-hi, my name's Eli…"

"Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, it's great to meet you Eli! So you're my cooking partner right?"

"Sure am," he said, warming up.

She got out the recipe she had picked and showed it to the scarlet haired boy "See? We're making an old family recipe, mascarpone meringue madness! Or at least a smaller version"

"Sounds awesome," Eli said with a bubbly smile. Pinkie shrugged "Yeah, it is. Well, I'll get started on the batter. Do you wanna make the icing?" she asked. The scarlet haired boy nodded excitedly "Yuppie duppie!" and grabbed the bowl, putting in the icing powder and adding the water.

She smiled at the boy and he smiled back.

"So Eli, are you new here?" she asked, mixing the ingredients together with a wire whisk. He nodded "Yeah, I moved here from Manehattan a week ago. It's really nice to meet you Pinkie, I mean, I never really had any friends before. We're friends aren't we?"

"Of course silly billy! You're my friend forever!"

He seemed taken aback by her statement, but shrugged it off. He laughed "Well the icing's done, what now?"

She put the batter into a greased pan and put it in the oven, setting the apple timer "We wait".

"It sucks, but still! We get time to talk. What's it like in Manehattan?" she asked. "Umm… well it's really big there, and being a city boy, I'm used to it. You can't call a cab without expecting a LOT of traffic and missing whatever you called a cab for" he said.

She nodded "Uh-huh, so any way-"

The timer went off and she grabbed the cake out of the oven with the mitts, setting it down on the cooling rack. He grabbed a tea-towel and gently removed the cake from the tin and put it on the plate. Pinkie grabbed the piping bag and iced the cake, garnishing it with little candy rosebuds and fruit pieces.

"Wow… that looks yummy…" Eli said.

"I know right? It's a miniature version of the MMM," she said.

"MMM?"

"MMM-Hmm!"

He grinned "Alrighty then,"

Pinkie felt a tap on her shoulder and smiled as Principle Celestia stood there, jaw agape, staring at the cake "I think we have a winner," she said, handing a blue ribbon to the pink haired girl before Eli cut her a slice. Pinkie was ecstatic to have won, and hugged Eli tightly "We won! We won!"

"You sure did Pinkie Pie! All thanks to…"

"Us!" the pink haired girl said. "Pardon?" he asked. She smiled "Silly, we BOTH won! Not just me,"

He nodded "Of course we did, but you did all the work". She shook her head, her pink afro bouncing "Nuh-uh, we both won!" she said stubbornly, putting her arm around Eli's shoulders and hugging him tightly. He felt warmth rush to his cheeks and hugged her back, realising her hair smelt like bubble-gum.

"So Eli, want a slice?" she asked, grabbing the cake slicer and a plate. He shrugged "Why not?"

She cut a slice and gave it to him, cutting herself a piece and gesturing for them to go sit at a table in the next room. They sat and ate, talking about everyday things like favourite colours and favourite clothing, and for once Eli felt at home with the strange pink haired girl.

"So Pinkie," the scarlet haired boy began, looking to his half eaten cake "do… do you have anything planned tomorrow evening?"

Pinkie finished her mouthful "Nope! Why?"

He shrugged "Dunno… just wanted to know if you'd like to, y'know, get a smoothie afterschool".

She looked at him with wide blue eyes "Huh?"

"I thought you might want a smoothie after school," Eli said, cheeks flushed. She looked at him and thought "Well, I don't see why not, you seem cute" Pinkie blushed. He smiled widely "Yay! So, umm… by the way, you have really pretty eyes. Like a blue sky".

The pink haired girl flushed "Aww stop it you,"

"No I mean it Pinkie, such beautiful blue eyes…" he said, staring into her eyes deeply. From cyan to green and back and forth, the pinkhead was hypnotised deeply. She felt dizzy, and barely noticed her strength weakening every moment she looked into his eyes.

" _No I will not reveal my lies, for my heart is bound by ties, but I still want the crown to be all miiiiiiiiiiiine!_ "


	4. A Generous Amount Of Lies

Chapter Four: A Generous Amount of Lies

"Now everybody, you and your partner have half an hour to design and sew together a beautiful, chic outfit or accessory. Base it on you or your partner's style or background and make it SHINE!" Miss Stitch, the fabrics teacher instructed.

 _Well Rarity, you've never failed to create an outfit and you're not starting now_ , the pale fashionista thought to herself as she collected her fabrics. Sitting at her station with sewing machine ready to go, fabric at her disposal and idea sparking up in her mind, she was ready.

"Excuse me madam, but may I work with you? No-one else seems to want to be my partner,"

Rarity looked up and she tried to keep her mouth from falling open. He was the most gorgeous young man she had ever seen, and she'd seen her fair share of handsome men. She smiled as nonchalantly as she could though nervous. _Don't screw this up Rarity, you only get one chance with someone this cute_ she thought.

"Oh yes, yes you may darling. A-and what might be your name? My name is Rarity," she said with a wry grin. He pulled up a stool and sat beside her "Jules, spelt J-U-L-E-S, people often spell it J-E-W-E-L-S and it really annoys me. But anyway, Rarity is a beautiful name, it suits you" he said.

She blushed and played with her diamond hairclip "Thankyou darling, oh, but we should really get onto making this design. Half an hour only, and we've been talking for about fifteen minutes! Time is of the essence," she said with a flourish. He chuckled.

"I know, I'm a clothier back home but here I just make clothes for fun. It really passes the time," he said, brushing a lock of his neat blonde hair from his face and tucking it behind his ear. She smiled and grabbed the fabric, traced the pattern and began to cut it out with the fabric scissors.

He grabbed the pins and waited for her instruction, pinning the fabric together as she instructed. Handing him the thread, she sat by the sewing machine and fed it through the machine then stitching on the sequins and buttons.

"Jules darling, could you be a dear and be my model? I'm not sure how this will look," Rarity asked, holding up the lavender fabric scarf. He nodded and stood, taking off the purple sweater from his shoulders as she gently wrapped it around his neck.

"Well? What do you think? Isn't it just gorgeous?" she asked.

He fan his fingers over the soft material and smiled "It is simply beautiful, you've outdone yourself Rarity. Might I be able to keep this?" he asked. She nodded "Oh sure, I can make something like that anytime. It's yours,"

Miss Stitch put down her book and walked over to the duo, adjusting her cat-eye glasses and pink sweetheart-neckline shirt waistband "My sweet pastures that is simply divine. Rarity, isn't it? I think we have a winner here," the young woman said with a flourish, presenting a blue silk ribbon to Rarity.

The pale fashionista was speechless.

"R-really? We won?"

"Well actually _you_ won, I just stood here and looked pretty" Jules smirked, making the two laugh. "No darling, you did help me, you handed me the things as I needed them. Thankyou Jules," Rarity thanked, holding out her hand and also the ribbon to Jules, who shook her hand and held it for a second.

The bell rang and the two left the room, going to recess in the cafeteria.

As Rarity walked in she eyed out her friends sitting at the table they normally sat at, sitting down beside Fluttershy. Try as she might, she just couldn't ignore the feeling that something was… different about her friends. Rainbow seemed quiet and kept giving horrid looks to the rest of the table.

Was there a fight she hadn't known about?

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity began politely.

"WHAT?!" Rainbow demanded loudly, staring at Rarity angrily. Twilight wouldn't have any of this. "Rainbow Dash, please stop! Everyone is staring at us…" the purplenette said. Rainbow glared at the nerdy girl "I don't have to, in fact, I don't have to sit with you boring girls either! I'm sitting over there from now on," Rainbow declared, pointing to a lonely table over in the corner of the room.

"Oh yeah, go ahead Rainbow Smash, like I care!" Pinkie yelled angrily, folding her arms.

"Watch it Stinky Pie!" Rainbow retorted.

"I'm so enjoying this yelling we're havin here! I'd loooooove to stay here forever," Applejack said snidely, looking to her left and right whilst biting her lip. Twilight couldn't believe her ears, her friends were fighting, or at least three of them were. This seemed all too familiar for her.

Twilight sighed and lowered her head, but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and met the purple eyes of her friend, Comet Nova. She felt a little better seeing her (Pegasus) friend again.

"Hey Twilight, what's wrong? I heard yelling from over here" the brunette said, tray of food in hand. Twilight looked to the table of arguing friend and turned back to Comet "I'm not exactly sure, but I've seen this sort of… discord before…"

"Uh-huh, well then… I've been meaning to talk to you about the chaos anyway. Meet me in the library in five minutes" Comet said, walking over to her friends and sitting down. _Whatever that girl's thinking, it better work_ Twilight thought. She knew something was afoot.

/

The smell of books drifted all around the nerdy girl as she stepped into the library, books everywhere. She felt at home in the library, and even remembered sleeping there once on a bed of books. True to her word, sitting by the history of magic books, was the pale skinned brown haired Pegasus-girl Comet Nova.

"Hey Twilight, come sit down. I think I may have figured out why your friends are acting so different" Comet said, shutting a thick book and waving away the dust. "Yeah, why are they? Ever since that kid showed up they've been acting differently," Twilight said, sitting on the desk-chair beside Comet.

"Exactly, that kid, Crafty Blue. I know he's behind this somehow, I even saw him with Rainbow Dash. He looked into her eyes and it looked like he was… draining her of something… and now that I've seen Rainbow act so disloyal in the cafeteria… it all makes sense" the brunette said.

"Draining? Crafty? But he seems so nice, why him?"

"If my calculations are correct, and most times out of ten they are, then Crafty is pulling a fast one on us. I've seen his kind's magic before, and he's even tried it on me, but I've found that I'm one of few that are immune to Changeling magic" the brunette said solemnly, brushing a lock of her dark brown hair out of her face.

"Changeling? I… I can't believe it… I'd have to see it to believe it" Twilight said.

Comet frowned and stood, grabbing a slightly smaller book and flipping through the pages until she came to a page with a picture, one of a dark black horse with a flowing cyan mane and purple eyes. She showed it to Twilight "This here, is a Changeling. They are an equine and even human… parasite… if you will, taking the form of loved ones and feeding off of their love".

The Pegasus girl put the book back "Well, follow me… I have a feeling he's about to make his next move".

/

"I don't see how Crafty could be dangerous to us—"

Comet hushed Twilight as they came to the corner of the hall, two figures standing with their backs to the girls. One was a tall young man with grey skin, blonde hair and purple eyes and the other was Rarity. They were deep in conversation, the blonde young man giving Rarity flirty looks, and Rarity flirting back.

"They're just talking, and it's kinda weird for us to just eavesdrop on their conversation" Twilight said, feeling awkward. Comet rolled her eyes "Just keep watching, I tell you that's not Jules, that's Crafty". "How can that be Crafty?"

"Changelings can change form to steal love, just watch" she said, hushing the nerdy girl. Twilight frowned and kept watching as the Pegasus-girl instructed, eyes on the couple. Twilight felt wrong eavesdropping on Rarity and her strangely perfect friend.

Listening closely the purplenette heard a few things "… _love you… date… beautiful… eyes…_ "

"Look! Look!" Comet whispered furiously, making pointing notions to Rarity and Jules. Twilight leaned in and looked over to the duo, her jaw falling open. Jules had his arms around Rarity, holding her to his body as he kissed her with such passion.

She felt her cheeks heat watching them "Comet, we're being creepy". The brunette girl sighed and rolled her eyes "Just watch, I'm waiting for him to use his magic on her then we can stop him! I know a spell," she said, grabbing out a strange tiara, similar to Twilight's crown but with a shooting star instead of a six-pointed star.

"Magic?"

"Yes, but the magic of Individuality. Changelings hate it since they often _copy_ the forms of others, just waiting until the right moment…" the Pegasus girl said, not taking her purple eyes off the two and putting on the tiara. Twilight went to leave but saw what Comet had been anticipating.

Jules held Rarity's cheek and gazed into her eyes, purple eyes glowing and shifting into bright fluorescent green, Rarity falling limp in his arms. At that moment Comet leapt out and shouted "Not so fast Crafty Blue! Remember me?"

Jules's eyes changed back and widened upon seeing Comet "You! How dare you interrupt my feeding! Leave or else you shall taste the wrath of a changeling army!" he boomed in a voice similar to Vice-Principal Luna's crowd voice. Comet adjusted the tiara and a strange aura surrounded it, shooting off as a purple beam that hit Jules in the centre of his chest.

A green light surrounded Jules and he roared as, in a flash of white light, shifted into a familiar blue skinned boy with blonde hair. He looked in anger at his blue skin "NO! This wasn't supposed to happen! I disposed of your friends myself! How did you?"

"Never underestimate a Nova! We stick together. You used to be so nice, so loving… what happened? Why are you like this?" the brunette asked with sparkling heliotrope eyes. Crafty almost looked like he was going to cry, but snapped out of it "I changed of my own accord Commetria. Nothing changed me but me, leave it at that. It's a sensitive spot…"

She choked out a sob "Is this because of… of us?"

"Commetria, enough. We had something… but…" he gritted his teeth and sped off down the hall. She called after him but he had disappeared down the hall. She felt Twilight's hand on her shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes "We used to be so close…"

The nerdy girl noticed Rarity asleep against the lockers, snoring away. Twilight woke up the pale fashionista and helped her to her feet "Rarity? Do you remember what happened?"

Rarity's normally blue eyes were instead a light shade of green, open wide "Twilight?"

"Rarity? Are you ok?"

The fashionista stepped harshly away from Twilight, eyeing Comet's tiara "Ooh! MINE!" and snatching it off of the brunette's head. Comet yelped "No! That's irreplaceable! Give that back! Its magic can only be used by me! It's dangerous in the wrong hands!"

Rarity clutched the tiara tightly to her chest "No way, its way too pretty to be in your hands! Such a diamond shouldn't be in your hands! It should be in mine!" the pale fashionista said possessively. Comet growled and dived for the tiara, only to fall to the floor.

"Ow! Oh wait… aha! This coin is sooooooooo pretty and sooooooooo valuable! It's mine!" Comet said, getting up and holding up a bent quarter like it was a precious gem. As she had predicted, Rarity dropped the tiara and grabbed the coin from her hands.

Twilight was confused.

"Discording magic, opposites and junk." Comet said simply "say something's valuable and they'll instantly want it even if it really isn't. But I don't know any un-discording spells so we'll have to study on it, if you want to help me" Comet said, putting her crown in her bag.

"I see, well then we'll work together on this. I'll see you tomorrow".

 **I am so sorry for this chapter taking so long, I had exams and heaps of other distractions stopping me from finishing this. My apologies to Retro Mania for putting this chapter on such a long hiatus, sorry. The next one will probably take a few days, a week if the quality is to be high. Once again, I am INCREDIABLY SORRY… Read and Review, hugs Sacredheart99.**


	5. What Lies Behind Your Kindness

Chapter Five: What Lies Behind Your Kindness

(Time: 7:00 am Saturday)

The pinkhead walked up to the doors of the local animal shelter, bag on her back and smile on her face as she opened the door to silence. She smiled as she saw all the cute little animals sleeping fast, and she sat down at the counter with her books out. Though she had volunteered for the animal shelter, she still had school work to do. It was hard to fit one in without the other clashing with it.

After she had finished off a half done geometry assignment she went to go check out the stock, making sure there was enough food, water and other supplies for the animals. She then saw that one of the retriever puppies had escaped. Again. The little brown puppy was playing with a chew-toy, but before she could catch the little animal he zoomed off and began to play with something else. Her school-bag.

She almost fainted when the puppy pulled out her history books and began to chew on them. She shot over towards the animal, but it dropped the books and shot off towards the open door. She had forgotten to shut the door.

"Oh no little puppy! Please don't run away! Please? I'll uh… I'll feed you some nice, crunchy kibble!" she bargained, the puppy ignoring her and keeping eyes set on the door. "NO!" she cried, making a leap for the animal but falling flat on her face as the animal ran out of the shelter and turned the corner.

She stood up and tried to run after it, but collided with someone entering the shelter. That time, she fell flat on her behind. She opened her eyes and saw the puppy in the arms of a young man, about her age. He had pale white skin, soft green eyes like freshly mown grass, long brown hair brushed into a ponytail with a few locks hanging down either side of his face. He wore a brown sweater that complimented his green eyes, greyish blue jeans and blue knee high converse shoes.

"Goodness, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there miss, um… I do believe this young pup belongs to you," the young man said, holding the brown puppy. She smiled and felt her pastel yellow cheeks flush "Oh um… thankyou… hope he wasn't any trouble…" she said quietly, playing with a lock of her cotton-candy pink hair.

He shook his head and laughed lightly "He wasn't. I was actually on my way here anyway, and I saw a little puppy running out of the shelter so I caught him. Then I… bumped… into you. Oh, my name's Kyte by the way. What's yours? Is it as pretty as you are?" he asked, standing and helping her up as well.

She giggled nervously "Fluttershy…"

"It suits you. Heh, anyway… I'm new at Canterlot High and Principal Celestia said, since I'm a huge animal lover that I could work with you here. For free of course, I love animals. I have three cats and a parrot named Cracker Jack" he said, looking around the shelter and walking over to the storage room "Wow, that's a lot of bird feed".

She shrugged "I ordered more just in case. I know parrots can be really fussy, no offence" she said, turning to the red parrot in the cage "Squaaawwk! None taken, none taken" it cawed back. He laughed and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She had to be dreaming with this guy, he was the guy of her dreams just showing up at her doorstep.

He brushed his hair back and shut the door, letting the brown puppy wander for a bit "So what can I do to help? What normally goes on around here? Is there some kind of schedule that you follow?" he asked, pulling a chair up and sitting at the front desk. She shrugged "Not really, I just tend to the animals and finish of my homework when I've got a spare minute".

He had an idea "How about I help you with your homework and it gets done quicker, then we get to pet puppies and kittens! Also, I'll do any job you don't want to. I wanna help" he explained. She smiled "Thankyou Kyte, you're so nice". He smiled back.

"Alright then, here's my first assignment on Algebra. I never really got the subject down," she said, putting the worksheet in front of Kyte as she sat down beside him. She felt her shoulder touch his and blushed. He grabbed a pencil from her pencil case on the desk and sharpened it "Alright then. See this letter here?" he said, pointing the pencil tip to a bold **N** on the sheet.

She nodded "Well it says, _If_ _ **N**_ _= 5, what is 6 x_ _ **N**_ _?_ " he asked, reading out the first question. She put her finger to her chin in thought "Is it… thirty?" she asked. He nodded "Well done Fluttershy, it is. It's just like saying six times five! Just pretend the letter is a number, that's how I do it". She smiled "You can call me Shy if you like, all my friends do".

"Cool, well onto the next problem Shy" he said, making her grin nervously, the butterflies in her stomach having a rave party. He writ down the answer in the little box "Now this one is a little trickier. _If 8 =_ _ **D**_ _, 2 =_ _ **C**_ _and 10 =_ _ **F**_ _, what do the following problems equal?_ " he asked " _ **D**_ _x_ _ **F**_ _,_ _ **C**_ _divided into_ _ **D**_ _and_ _ **F**_ _x_ _ **C**_ ".

She thought for a few moments then answered "The first one is eighty, the second one is four and the last one is twenty. Was I right?" she asked. He nodded and brushed a lock of brown hair from behind his ear "Yes! See, it's not that hard? Do you think you can do the rest? Only three more super easy questions to go. I'll go see if the animals need food or water ok?"

"Ok," she said, watching him walk to each cage and grab food and water if necessary. She finished her assignment while Kyte played with the little brown puppy, throwing a small green tennis ball and playing hide and seek. Watching him act so friendly and playful with the puppy, volunteering at the animal shelter, looking at his sensible dress sense. He was a dream come true.

He stopped and picked the puppy up, walking to the customer side of the counter "Hello madam, might I be able to adopt this puppy? I'll pay in cash right now if need be" he said. She felt her heart skip. He was seriously adopting an animal? She looked up into his soft green eyes and smiled.

"Sure, that'll be twenty dollars and you'll need to sign a few forms. Is that ok?" she asked, grabbing the forms from in a desk draw and putting them on the desk. He nodded "Yup, I'll just put him down for a moment while I sign them" he said, putting the brown puppy down and signing the forms where necessary.

"He's officially yours now. What should I put for a name?" she asked, pen at paper. He thought "How about Buster? He sure busted out of here earlier" he said. She giggled and wrote the name down in the little box. He sat down beside her and grinned "So now what? It's only thirty past seven, how long until we leave? I'd love to grab a smoothie with you at the café some time, would you like that? Any flavour you like I'll pay for, and I'll buy you a slice of cake or pie as well".

She felt as if she might melt into a lovey-dovey puddle if he spoke another word of kindness.

"Really? You don't have to do that for me," she said, playing with a lock of her hair and flushing. He chuckled and put an arm around her, intensifying her blush "Of course I do, I mean… I really like you Shy, and I've only known you for thirty… thirty one minutes" he said, noting the minute change on his watch "it has to mean something more than friendship".

She felt the same way. She never usually felt so comfortable being so close to a male before, yet with Kyte, it felt as if they had known each other for years rather than thirty-one minutes. She shyly smiled and noticed his pale cheeks were almost glowing with blush "I feel the same way Kyte… but what about Big Macintosh, he's my old boyfriend and he gets really jealous if he sees me with another boy, even if said boy has no interest in dating me".

Kyte noted that and played with a lock of her pink hair "He won't bother us, but that's only if you _wanted_ to date me… you probably don't…" he said sadly, beginning to retract his arm from around her. She stopped him and grabbed his hand "No… I do want to date you, but I'm just worried about what he'll think of me… I promised him when we were dating that I'd never date another boy…"

"But that was when you _were_ dating, I can respect his wishes but still… I kinda really like you. You're the kind of girl I'd love to spend my money on, the kind I could trust with my deepest darkest secrets. I think… I think I'm in love with you" he said with sparkling green eyes like soft grass.

She felt her heart leap "I… I think I love you too…" she practically whispered. He never broke eye contact. "Fluttershy…" he said, leaning into her. Her cheeks flamed red and eyes shot open as their lips tangled. She slowly slid her arms around him and he ran his fingers through her soft clean hair. A loud bark broke the kiss.

Buster sat by their feet with a wagging tongue and tail "Arp! Arp!"

They laughed it off and Kyte petted the brown puppy "How's about I get you a collar?" he asked the dog, earning a bark He stood and saw a black and red collar, running over to it and grabbed it off the shelf, dropping a few dollars on the counter to pay. He put the collar around Buster's neck and the dog looked proud.

"There we go, super swag Buster" he said to the dog, who licked his face. "Eww Buster, gross."

Fluttershy giggled "He really likes you". Kyte smiled and petted the puppy "I know, I'm gonna love him and pet him and stuff". She smiled and looked up at the clock "I mean, if you want to, we can go for a smoothie now… if you like, we've got some spare time" she said. He smiled and put the dog down, grabbing a leash and tossing a few dollars onto the counter "I'll have to take Buster. If I leave him, he'll tear up the place by the time we step out the door".

"Alright, but we'd better hurry. We only have twenty minutes before we have to check the stock…" she said.

"Already taken care of. I checked while you were busy with your homework" he added proudly, adjusting his sweater and smiling. She nodded "That means we get at least forty minutes break then". She was glad she at least had some time to spend with this dreamy stranger. "Cool, let's get going then" Kyte said as he held the end of Buster's leash in his hand.

Fluttershy nodded and they were off.

/

The café bustled with after-school-goers ready for their afternoon snack or drink, and two students stepped in and ordered a few treats, all coming out of the well-lined pocket of Kyte Winds. She noticed an old friend sitting with her boyfriend at a stall, waved over and they sat beside them.

The girl had long sporty purple and gold hair to her waist, bright magenta eyes and pale tan skin. She wore average sporting attire, a singlet and a black jacket over it with three fire-flies smiling printed on the side, purple leggings and sports-shoes. She seemed laid back yet still smiling widely.

The male beside her had pale brown skin, neatly groomed ash-blonde hair and green eyes. He wore a tan coat with a white shirt underneath, a red bowtie looking very formal around his neck, dark brown pants and dress shoes. He had an air of sophistication about him, looking very serious.

"Oh hello Firefly, how are you? I haven't seen you in ages," Fluttershy commented as her and Kyte's smoothies arrived. Firefly shrugged "Ok I guess, I mean Freddy and I went on a really romantic date the other day. He gave me this" she said, showing the group a shiny Firefly necklace made from shiny glass and silver.

"Ooh, that's gorgeous" the pale girl said. Firefly smiled "I know. It's breathtaking, but not as breathtaking as Freddy" she said, pecking the male on the cheek. His cheeks flamed and he seemed more awkward than serious now "Er… Firefly, sweetheart… I only had it handmade by a friend. It's just a gift to say I love you".

She snuggled up to Frederic "I love you too". Kyte saw this and, whilst his date was looking at birds out the window, focused on the happy duo across from him and his eyes shimmered brightly. They stilled and their eyes went blank for a few moments before they returned to normal, feeling a little… drained.

"Mmm young love is _sweet…_ " Kyte muttered in a reverberating voice, licking his lips. Fluttershy turned to face him and he cleared his throat, sipping his smoothie. She looked to the cup and smiled "Oh I know, they make really good smoothies here. I'd come here every day… if it weren't for…"

He put an arm around her shoulder "If it weren't for what? Fluttershy, you can tell me anything" he assured her. She gained some courage "If it weren't for my friends fighting… they just don't seem normal, they're not acting like themselves… it scares me" she explained, shuddering.

He cuddled up to her and hugged her tight "Hey, it's probably just a milestone. They'll get over it and they'll be back to normal soon. Trust me, it happened with my old friends back home". She felt a little safer beside Kyte. Firefly shook her head to clear it "Wow… what do they put in these smoothies?" she joked, looking at her watch "OH NO! Freddy, your recital is in five minutes! I gotta get there too, I'm the lead vocalist!"

Frederic immediately began to panic, but withheld it and cleared his throat "Well, we'd better hurry then. Farewell Miss Fluttershy, Mr Kyte. We must be going and-"

Firefly grabbed her boyfriend's arm and they rushed from the café faster than greased lightning. Kyte shrugged "Well, do you wanna get back? We've got about five minutes before we go back". She thought and agreed, walking with him out but not after paying.

They arrived back at the shelter, it clean and unharmed, much to their surprise. The pinkhead settled down in the front desk chair and watched Kyte inspect the animals, check the food and the register and smiled "Well everything's still here". He looked at her with a strange look… some strange intention…

She couldn't look away. "K-Kyte… I don't feel so good…" she said as her eyes blanked and his glowed brightly "Shush my dearest Fluttershy, you know with me by your side… _nothing can harm you my darling_ " he hissed, his voice losing the kind and normal quality and gaining a strange echoing voice.

She almost fainted, but he caught her and left her passed out on the table with a note titled this.

' _Studied too hard_ '.

He left with a smile playing on his sinister lips. This was far from over.


End file.
